@#$! Bowser! Top 5 Mario Bosses Who Should Get More Respect

King Boo is technically Luigi's nemesis more than Mario's, but considering that Boo actually captures Mario to lure Luigi into a trap, that makes him pretty damned successful against the legendary plumber, in our opinion.

Here's the thing, though...Boo is actually the hero in our book. It all started when a wacky scientist started collecting ghost friends of his for absolutely no reason and imprisoning them in pictures like some kind of undead serial killer displaying a collection of grisly souvenirs. Despite the fact that this nut job had already proven himself capable of taking out his most powerful subjects, the King goes alone to confront him and frees his people, also getting a sweet house in the deal.

Considering that Boo had worked for Bowser in the past, it's only reasonable to assume that he thought the whole thing was a pre-emptive strike by Mario and Luigi, so he concocted the plot of Luigi's Mansion as retaliation in the name of protecting his subjects. King Boo might be the most faceted character in the whole series now that we think on it, and easily a better royal than all the others, good guy or bad, combined.

2. Smithy

Squaresoft could do no wrong in the SNES era. They released two iconic Final Fantasies, Chrono Trigger, and their amazing crossover with Nintendo, Super Mario RPG. We downloaded the game via the Wii a while back and it hasn't aged a day. It's still one of the greatest games ever made.

The boss of the game, who defeats Bowser so easily you'd think that King Koopa was paid to take a dive, is Smithy. Smithy is a weapons manufacturer who flies around in a giant sword. While tooling around the universe, he destroyed the Star Road, preventing wishes from ever coming true, and holds the Mushroom Kingdom hostage. When Mario confronts him deep in the depths of his factory, he attacks by transforming his head into a tank or a wizard, depending on whether he wants to shoot holes in you with lighting or bullets.

Sadly, even though Square Enix and Nintendo have finally kissed and made up, there's been no movement on doing any kind of sequel, or of the original characters from the game being free to be used in other Nintendo series. Too bad, because Smithy is almost the best Mario antagonist ever.

Almost...

1. Fawful

Fawful is an inspirational story of how far you can rise if you possess plenty of drive, technological acumen and shorts-browning insanity. He started out as the main henchman to Cackeletta in the Mario and Luigi series before rising to the role of primary antagonist in Bowser's Inside Story.

As a boss, he brings a lot to the table, mostly the incredibly advanced helmet he wears that can vacuum in souls, shoot energy balls or turn into a rocket ship. Those attribute alone allow him to outclass most other villains, but it's Fawful's charismatic presence that really sets him apart. We submit the following quotes as proof of his majesty, as well as a way to spice up any political speech. We know we'd vote for a president who said...

"Finally! Now is the time where my true might shines, like many angry sunbeams of rage!"

"I need no long speech before this battle, which will now be mighty! Snack on my wrath, fink-rats!"

"Your lives that I spit on are now but a caricature of a cartoon drawn by a kid who is stupid!"

"I suppress the fury, but sometimes... The fury has me."

"I drizzled rage dressing on the country next door. Rage dressing on a salad of evil!"